Surgical volume impacts bariatric surgery mortality

In a study by Hollenbeak CS, et al the number of cases done per year by a surgeon and a hospital affected death rates.(1) They performed a population-based study examining the effect of bariatric surgery volume on mortality in Pennsylvania. “Between 1999 and 2003, 14,716 patients having gastric bypass surgery in Pennsylvania hospitals were identified from the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council database. Individual surgeons and hospitals were stratified as high (> 100 cases/yr), medium (50-100 cases/yr), or low volume (< 50 cases/yr). The relationship between surgeon and hospital volume on length of stay (LOS), in-hospital, and 30-day mortality were examined, adjusting for age, gender, ethnicity, payor, and MedisGroups Admission Severity Group (ASG) score.”

They found that hospital and surgeon volume were associated with increased in-hospital and 30-day mortality.